Jessica Sanchez, American Idol 11th season winners now in Manila

"American Idol" runner-up Jessica Sanchez and the rest of the top 10 winners of season 11 competition arrived in Manila Tuesday to perform in a group concert at the Araneta Coliseum on Friday.

The Philippine concert tour dubbed "American Idol' Live! Tour 2012" is the last leg of the 45-city tour of the US and the group's first Asian concert tour.

The 17-year-old singing sensation, who was born in Chula Vista, California to a Mexican-American father and Filipino mother arrived with the group composed of season 11 winner Philip Philips, and top winners Joshua Ledet, Colton Dixon, and Skylar Laine

Sanchez said she wants to learn more about her mother's home country but regrets she may not be able to visit her relatives in Bataan town due to her hectic schedules.

“I can't believe I'm here. Manila will definitely be one of my best memories,” she told ABS-CBN News.

“The food, shopping, all the cultural stuff about the Philippines, I wanna learn what I may not know,” she said.

"The new singing celebrities are expected to perform some of the numbers they sang during the talent search, with Jessica drawing from her song list that includes, among others, Change Nothing, Sweet Dreams and I Will Always Love You. An on-line post of the tour’s repertoire indicates that Jessica has seven production numbers and three solo spots," Philstar.com writes.

Sanchez has just performed at the National Democratic Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina on Wednesday. She sang the Motown classic You're All I Need To Get By along with the God’s Appointed People Choir. Read more:

During their long 18-hour trip to Manila, the group contacted their fans on Twitter to let them know of their excitement as they prepare for the long journey.

But Joshua Ledet's message on Twitter created some controversy among Facebook users.His message says: " "Not excited about this 18 hour flight to the Phillipines ehhh :/"

His statement caused a bit of an uproar from some Facebook users who were offended by his statement.

Obviously, Ledet is already aware of viewers' negative reaction to his statement. So while on his way to the Philippines he posted another statement saying he is excited about the Philippines but not the 18-hour flight from the U.S.

Ledet's subsequent statement says: "I'm excited about the Philippines Just not the flight! Don't take my last tweet the wrong way!" Read more:

The next season of American Idol which starts in January 2013 will feature a new set of judges which include popular singer and songwriter Mariah Carey, controversial rapper Nicki Minaj and country singer Keith Urban. Old-timer Randy Jackson was retained in the judges' panel.